MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Meanwhile, social media has been full of appeals from people still searching for their loved ones.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Our parents, Shubhi (ph) and Sumit, were in Nepal when the floods hit.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I just hope that my mom and dad are safe.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
More than 4,000 people overall are still missing, including approximately 80 Americans and hundreds more foreigners. As NPR's Diaa Hadid reports, many of those foreigners appear to have been worshippers on a sacred pilgrimage.
GUARAV KHARE: I'm looking for my brother-in-law.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Guarav Khare's brother-in-law, Vivek Srivastav, lived in Atlanta. He was an American biotech scientist, the kind of person who believed...
KHARE: The life is all about serving people.
HADID: He was dearly loved and he can't be found.
KHARE: For last four or five days, we have been in search for him.
HADID: Srivastav was on a pilgrimage alongside 10 others to Mount Kailash. It's a Himalayan mountain sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Indigenous Tibetan religions. And for the faithful, visiting Mount Kailash...
HINDOL SENGUPTA: Is one of the most important things that they will do as they approach the last leg of their life.
HADID: Hindol Sengupta is a historian of religion. He says Hindus believe Mount Kailash...
SENGUPTA: Is the ultimate abode of Lord Shiva.
HADID: A god associated with power and destruction, one of the most important Hindu deities. So...
SENGUPTA: Scaling this mountain is prohibited.
HADID: Pilgrims walk some 33 miles around the mountain base, about three days' trek, and...
SENGUPTA: It's high up in the mountains. The oxygen levels are not high.
HADID: It's hard to breathe. That's why Shubham Kumar told NPR that he and his wife begged his retired in-laws not to go. They were part of a group of 32 pilgrims - now missing.
SHUBHAM KUMAR: We told them not to go. It is a very difficult road. But they were destined to go there.
HADID: Destined to go. Mount Kailash is in Chinese-held Tibet. Most pilgrims get there by crossing through neighboring Nepal.
KUMAR: (Speaking Hindi).
HADID: Like many pilgrims, Kumar says he last heard from his in-laws as they reached a border crossing.
KUMAR: But after that, there is no communication.
HADID: That crossing was close to where a glacier fell into a valley, blocked a river, causing water to shoot through the debris. Footage from the incident showed a furious wave engulfing a border crossing.
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JAGADISH VASUDEV: A well-constructed concrete building just vanished.
HADID: That's Jagadish Vasudev, known as Sadhguru, who leads a spiritual group known as the Isha Foundation. They lost 80 pilgrims on the border. And during an event on Sunday in Nepal, Vasudev said those pilgrims were disciplined and had departed early to the border crossing to avoid crowds.
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VASUDEV: I only wish we didn't have so much discipline.
HADID: He urged followers to accept that their fellow pilgrims had died because of human-induced warming that's causing Himalayan glaciers to melt faster and because there was no warning of the impending flood.
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VASUDEV: Don't try to find philosophical explanation to this. This is the reality of our existence right now.
HADID: He called for action on climate change to protect the Himalayas, saying an ancient pilgrimage should not fade away.
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VASUDEV: It's important for our culture, our civilization, and it's very important for Nepal's economy also.
HADID: Some experts say perhaps too many pilgrims are making the journey these days, causing even more damage to the fragile ecosystem around Mount Kailash. Sengupta, the historian of religion, says those who revere Mount Kailash have a responsibility to ensure...
SENGUPTA: At the very least, pilgrims don't have to die to fulfill their devotion.
HADID: Protecting pilgrims by protecting Mount Kailash by protecting the planet it exists on. Diaa Hadid, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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